Sprinkler heads that depend from low ceilings or those mounted in storage racks in industrial or commercial establishments frequently include a wire-form protective guard, which prevents accidental damage to the thermally responsive element, such as a glass bulb or fusible element.
In a typical installation, each sprinkler head is connected to the water system by threading the sprinkler head to the water line through use of a special wrench or tool that engages a polygonal-shaped ridge or groove on the body of the sprinkler head. After installation of the sprinkler head, the wire guard is then installed on the sprinkler head. The wire guard is typically connected to the sprinkler head by engaging the base of the guard with the wrench groove, and the guard is then locked to the body by fasteners such as screws, or other fastening means.
The installation of the protective guards is very time consuming and labor intensive. Such labor intensity and time consumption may be amplified by the common practice of installing all of the sprinkler heads first and then returning later to each sprinkler location to install the wire form guard in a second operation. Each wire guard is composed of two or more components, and the workman is normally working in an awkward overhead position, or in the case of storage racks, in relatively inaccessible locations. As a storage rack in an industrial or commercial establishment may contain thousands of sprinkler heads, the installation of the protective guards constitutes a time consuming process which comprises a substantial portion of the overall cost of the sprinkler system.